Evening everyone, Just thought I would update from my last post. Just had my recent test results -
TSH 7.58 (0.38-5.3) T4 9.6 (7.7-15.1) Dr has agreed to trial a low dose of thyroxine - 25mg for my “sub clinical hypothyroidism”. If my symptoms don’t improve after first prescription (2 months worth) then they will recheck bloods, otherwise it will be a 6 month trial. Finally feel like I’ve started to get somewhere, but what a battle with the doctor. However he also tested ferritin - 17 (11.0 -307) & folate 3.5 (3.1-19.9). Both seem pretty low to me but it said normal, no further action. What would be the best supplements to raise both of these? Any advice much appreciated please.
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Pascinola22
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I'd like to be pleased for you but if he's unlikely to raise your dose at the next test then you are likely to feel perhaps a little better for a short time and then worse on a child's dose.... if you are symptomatic then you aren't sub-clinical!! You will have to be ready to mention the NICE guidelines and that an increase WILL be necessary as you are not a child!
Low ferritin doesn't necessarily mean low iron so before supplementing you'd need a full iron panel to be sure, you'd be best to stick to chicken liver pate a couple of times a week in the mean time
Low folate is better off treated with a B complex as highly likely your other B's are also low?
Thorne Basic B (one large capsule), Iggenus Super B (2 small tablets) are a couple of good ones
Yes it is a small step forward but after 5 years of this it felt like a win. He insisted most of my symptoms aren’t thyroid related & would only diagnose subclinical. I printed the NICE guidelines & took them with me. He said he’d look at them online & then agreed that if my next test was also high he would agree to a trial of Levo. I am expecting a fight for the dose to be raised to be honest. I am on b12 injections. Thank you for the advice, I will try the pate & also liver I think will help. I haven’t had vit D tested in a couple of years, last result was 78.
He sounds like a total ar$e and looks like he is trying to set you up to fail 😕 lets hope he has a read up and learns a thing or two before you next have to deal with him
I'd suggest adding D3 + K2 to your supplements as everyone should really be taking it at this time of the year, ideally aiming for 100-150nmol/L if you aren't going to test I'd suggest 4000ui as a sensible maintenance dose but you can take a loading dose to get things moving up to 50,000ui a week for a couple of weeks
My thoughts exactly & I will try & see a different GP for my next appointment. Though I don’t have too high hopes of it making a difference. I will look at getting these supplements this weekend. Thank you so much for all your advice.
Serum ferritin level is the biochemical test, which most reliably correlates with relative total body iron stores. In all people, a serum ferritin level of less than 30 micrograms/L confirms the diagnosis of iron deficiency
Never supplement iron without doing full iron panel test for anaemia first and retest 3-4 times a year if self supplementing.
It’s possible to have low ferritin but high iron
Test early morning, only water to drink between waking and test. Avoid high iron rich dinner night before test
If taking any iron supplements stop 5-7 days before testing
Eating iron rich foods like liver or liver pate once a week plus other red meat, pumpkin seeds and dark chocolate, plus daily orange juice or other vitamin C rich drink can help improve iron absorption
This is interesting because I have noticed that many patients with Hashimoto’s disease and hypothyroidism, start to feel worse when their ferritin drops below 80 and usually there is hair loss when it drops below 50.
Thank you for your incredible patience while you have been awaiting the outcome of our ferritin reference range review. We conducted this with Inuvi lab, which has now changed the reference ranges to the following:
Females 18 ≤ age < 40. 30 to 180
Females 40 ≤ age < 50. 30 to 207
Females 50 ≤ age < 60. 30 to 264l
Females Age ≥ 60. 30 to 332
Males 18 ≤ age < 40 30 to 442
Males Age ≥ 40 30 to 518
The lower limits of 30 are by the NICE threshold of <30 for iron deficiency. Our review of Medichecks data has determined the upper limits. This retrospective study used a large dataset of blood test results from 25,425 healthy participants aged 18 to 97 over seven years. This is the most extensive study on ferritin reference ranges, and we hope to achieve journal publication so that these ranges can be applied more widely.
Oh wow, thank you. That’s my reading for the weekend. So if I can raise ferritin & folate by my next blood test it will hopefully help with a dose raise. Does this also apply to Vit D levels? I have had low iron test results in recent years but was told I’m not anaemic. Thank you for your advice. I will take it all on board once I have read through the links.
I think it was about 18 months ago. I am on b12 injections every 12 weeks. If I start vit d will it affect TSH blood tests? Think I need to look at test for this & iron levels maybe.
As you have B12 injections it’s recommended also to supplement a good quality daily vitamin B complex, one with folate in (not folic acid) may be beneficial.
This can help keep all B vitamins in balance and may help maintain B12 levels between injections
Igennus B complex popular option. Nice small tablets. Most people only find they need one per day. But a few people find it’s not high enough dose and may need separate methyl folate couple times a week
Thorne Basic B recommended vitamin B complex that contains folate, but they are large capsules. (You can tip powder out if can’t swallow capsule) Thorne can be difficult to find at reasonable price, should be around £20-£25. iherb.com often have in stock. Or try ebay
IMPORTANT......If you are taking vitamin B complex, or any supplements containing biotin, remember to stop these 5-7 days before ALL BLOOD TESTS , as biotin can falsely affect test results
In week before blood test, when you stop vitamin B complex, you might want to consider taking a separate folate supplement (eg Jarrow methyl folate 400mcg)
Post discussing how biotin can affect test results
Thank you SlowDragon, I will look for a Vit b complex. I know I will really need a dose raise after next bloods & will be following all this advice as closely as I can as I’m struggling with it all now. I need to get back on track with everything, working full time is becoming a struggle. Thank you again.
I never did understand why UK doctors are so afraid to treat hypothyroidism. Even here in the US, where there are big cutbacks in primary care going on, it's recognized that a TSH of about 1.3 is typical of people in normal health, that a large majority have levels below 2.5, and that 10 is very unusual. I felt very ill at 6.08 and just scrape by at 4.5. I take supplements, mainly Coenzyme Q10, multivitamins, selenium, and zinc, that push my TSH down into the upper part of the normal range, but they are no substitute for Synthroid, which I was allowed to take for a few years. I think that in the US and western Europe, health standards are very low, but that saves the government a lot of money. This is why I hope the US never goes on socialized medicine, but it's headed that way. And, yes, I believe that older people deserve to feel good as much as younger ones, and should also have their diseases treated properly.
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